ever feel like you have the worst timing

Paq13 said: "Ok, so i bought this stock today at a price i thought was good...the INSTANT i bought it, however, it went down 40 cents (about 5%) and stayed there the rest of the day...i'm very certain of the company, i just don't know how the stock is going to do. it's been steadily climbing for the last few months and is well ranked by barchart, et al. so i buy and poof...5% down..today...alone..it actualy ended up being 5% up today from yesterday, but 5% down from where i bought it...talk about horrible timing. i'm just hoping for a continued drive upwards. I just did not realize i bought it near the 52 week high... Anyone else have any bad timing stories?"

dumaman said: "Nah everything i buy goes up the moment i buy it... LOL.. hang in there buddy.. 40 cents is nothing.. though you didnt list the symbol so nobody can give a real helping hand till ya do :D"

SporeMonger said: "I noticed most stocks go down around 2:00 p.m. ET, almost everyday. The stocks that do, stay in a channel throughout the mid-day and then head south. Others keep going up through the whole day. But stocks losing ground at the end of the day is so normal that I think I should start betting people on it! :cool: Don't worry so much. Stay true to your conviction. As long as no destructive news hits your stock, buy it lower (average down), in small increments. Just be aware of your commissions. You can get an idea where the bottoms are by looking at past performance. Again... I am not suggesting chart reading, but it does have it's place. Just keep your eyes open and relax a bit. :)"

Rickster said: "Stay true to your reason for buying. If I read you right, you intended to place a bet on the company. It is nearly a sure bet that the true company value didnt change 5% in one day. On the other hand, there are any number of things that have nothing to do with the company that can easily move a stock price 5% in one day, or even 50% in a year. If you intended to place a bet on the short term stock price movements, you should have studied the factors that influence short term stock price movements."

dumaman said: "margin calls happen between 1 and 2:30 i think... that may explain the dips"

thezster said: "[QUOTE=dumaman]margin calls happen between 1 and 2:30 i think... that may explain the dips[/QUOTE] I don't think so Vern... My margin calls usually come just prior to market opening.... Damn em.... :p On the other hand... if I don't meet my margin call - the equity liquidation does happen late in the afternoon......... I've never had that happen... and can't imagine anyone else letting it happen (in any great volume to affect the market) more than once......."

Ludemaster said: "no he's right, alot of margin calls go out in the mornings but if theyre not covered by 2pm they are dumped. To add to this alot of people dont want to hold over lunch."

Mr. Gekko said: "[QUOTE=Paq13]Ok, so i bought this stock today at a price i thought was good...the INSTANT i bought it, however, it went down 40 cents (about 5%) and stayed there the rest of the day...i'm very certain of the company, i just don't know how the stock is going to do. it's been steadily climbing for the last few months and is well ranked by barchart, et al. so i buy and poof...5% down..today...alone..it actualy ended up being 5% up today from yesterday, but 5% down from where i bought it...talk about horrible timing. i'm just hoping for a continued drive upwards. I just did not realize i bought it near the 52 week high... Anyone else have any bad timing stories?[/QUOTE] When not using limit orders, I like to buy between Noon and 2.30pm. Volume is the lightest during lunch and as time rolls into the afternoon you get a sense of direction for the market."

thezster said: "[QUOTE=Mr. Gekko]When not using limit orders, I like to buy between Noon and 2.30pm. Volume is the lightest during lunch and as time rolls into the afternoon you get a sense of direction for the market.[/QUOTE] Interesting.... Personally, I find there is no such thing as a trend - hence, once you figure out the market - it will turn around and bite you in the as _ !"

Mr. Gekko said: "[QUOTE=thezster]Interesting.... Personally, I find there is no such thing as a trend - hence, once you figure out the market - it will turn around and bite you in the as _ ![/QUOTE] Oh I agree. That's why I use limit orders for 90% of my transactions. The "lunch-time lull" is something I rarely utilize."

Paq13 said: "well, i did put it as a limit order and it was after 2:30. I do believe it will come back up or i wouldn't have bought it, but it was just one fo those "i buy and it instantly tanks" nightmares you have about new stocks. I'm in this one until probably december unless something better comes along. i HIGHLY doubt it'll go down to weird levels and worse case is that i lose 50% of my 'fun money'. on the other hand, i bought a reputable mutual fund a few months ago and put a great deal of money in it to watch it sit at 10% below for months, but it's back up and doing rather well. I'm patient, but just worried....i'm also one of those, "what if i'd just waited another hour" people."

Mr. Gekko said: "[QUOTE=Paq13] I'm patient, but just worried....i'm also one of those, "what if i'd just waited another hour" people.[/QUOTE] eh... you can't let your stocks/money give ya' gray hairs... or worse make you loose your hair. You win some, you loose some... hopefully you'll win more than you loose."

Paq13 said: "well, that, and i take solace in the fact that : 1. i can't go into debt bc of it 2. I can't lose 'too' much 3. it's not exactly a company that will die out in a few days. as someone here said, "i doubt there is something that caused the stock to lose 5% of it's value in minutes" and finally 4. Nothing is in stone till the final trade is made."

Paq13 said: "^^^^edit, company, not stock..####viously the stock changed value :)^^^^"

Darren said: "Learning to "cut your losses" is part of the game. And I'll warn you about thinking of trades as "paper losses". They're real enough."

Paq13 said: "yea, i have a stop in place, i'm just REALLY hoping it never gets put into action :)"

Darren said: "[quote=Paq13]yea, i have a stop in place, i'm just REALLY hoping it never gets put into action :)[/quote] That's the way to do it. Expect the best, but plan for the worst :)"

Paq13 said: "eh, i may have to accept the worst. very bad timing :( on the other hand, the stock has an alternating cycle of one major up day followed by a half down day, up 10%, down 5%, rinse, lather, repeat. didn't realize i bought it on an up day, which is bad :)"

Paq13 said: "eh, i think i overreacted....gee, imagine that..someone investing in a stock and overreacting. Isn't that a first? anyway, i think, worst case, i'll break even within a few days with a best case of making some nice cash."

thezster said: "[QUOTE=Paq13]eh, i think i overreacted....gee, imagine that..someone investing in a stock and overreacting. Isn't that a first? anyway, i think, worst case, i'll break even within a few days with a best case of making some nice cash.[/QUOTE] Geeeeeezzzzzzzz..........You're gonna give yourself an ulcer before you even get started.... calm down dude... it's only money..."

Paq13 said: "Yeah, i know i really dont' stress over it, just that it is the first stock i have bought that INSTANTLY went downhill and i did not know when it woudl stop :) On the other hand, i just realized today that i CAN"T sell it until next week bc i bought it with unsettled funds. Don't mind me, though, i always sound much more concerned than i am. Again, it was just that i bought the stock and watched it freefall as if my one purchase set that off :)"

thezster said: "[QUOTE=Paq13]Yeah, i know i really dont' stress over it, just that it is the first stock i have bought that INSTANTLY went downhill and i did not know when it woudl stop :) On the other hand, i just realized today that i CAN"T sell it until next week bc i bought it with unsettled funds. Don't mind me, though, i always sound much more concerned than i am. Again, it was just that i bought the stock and watched it freefall as if my one purchase set that off :)[/QUOTE] Regarding settled funds...... ALWAYS REMEMBER: It can be better to sell on unsettled funds (free ride) and get restricted for 90 days than to take a huge hit on a crashing equity. The "restriction" simply means your broker will not allow you to purchase equities with unsettled funds for the next 90 days - which, for most people, is probably a good thing - making them consider their purchases before pulling the trigger. It does NOT mean that you are restricted from trading."

Paq13 said: "well, in this case, holding out a bit seems to be the way to go. I wasn't worried about selling today, but when i went to put in a sell order for a higher price, i received a warning message that reminded me i bought with unsettled funds.. that said, I'd sell before taking a huge hit. On the good news: I sold one of my best performing stocks (SYX) on monday, 9-11 bc i was getting antsy about it. I just set a sell price and it hit early in the morning...then it kept rising..and rising...andi thought, "Man...i really sold too early and missed out on a good bit of money"...but then i saw what happened today for no apparent reason, i breathed a nice sigh of relief and felt justified (13.90 to 13.05 within 3 hrs). Just a lesson that profits/losses are only realized when you make that final trade.. sorry, i'm still getting accustomed to this stuff :)"

trickynick said: "Here is a great timing story for you... I sold my ADM shares at the very beginning of January 2006 (I think the 2nd of the month or something like that). Go look at the chart for the last year and see what I have missed out on and with what impecable timing."

Paq13 said: "heh i know how you feel. Then again, i look at my trial portfolios and see how quite a few have gone up considerably only to drop to a 50% loss over a week. After seeing that, i'll take a small gain lose out on potentially more over watching my paper profit go up ...and then very very far down."

Paq13 said: "waiting was definitely a good thing. it's up 8% today and well into the green zone :) btw, now that i don't feel so stupid for buying it, the stock is Gigamedia, GIGM, a taiwan based holding company that focuses on online gambling...yeah, i know...i do feel kinda silly buying it, but projections for it look to be very good and the most recent quarter showed an 800% increase in profits."

thezster said: "[QUOTE=Paq13]waiting was definitely a good thing. it's up 8% today and well into the green zone :) btw, now that i don't feel so stupid for buying it, the stock is Gigamedia, GIGM, a taiwan based holding company that focuses on online gambling...yeah, i know...i do feel kinda silly buying it, but projections for it look to be very good and the most recent quarter showed an 800% increase in profits.[/QUOTE] Never feel silly for buying anything that turns you a profit. And... never, ever apologize for turning that profit...."

Paq13 said: "Sorry, still new to this whole thing. i felt silly bc it tanked the INSTANT i bought it. Like the whole community was laughing at me, "see..i knew someone would buy it at that price' and i didn't see too much of an end in sight to the droppage... then i realized, it really does fluctuate about 10% a day overall..kind of a large gap for the stocks i normally trade. On hte other hand, i'm so happy about this...when someone shows me what DALRQ is doing today...geebus. :)"

Paq13 said: "Eh, i guess my timing wasn't 'that bad' as i sold for 2.5% profit after a week and a half..Could have been 5%, but i stupidly thought it was going to stop fluctuating so much during the day midway through the week. At any rate, i got out at a 50 cents/share profit, woohoo...any profit you can walk away with, as it seems. So, lookin gfor a new stock again..."